Guide · Azerbaijan market
How people search in Azerbaijan: languages, spelling and devices
Search in Azerbaijan looks simple from the outside — Google handles almost all of it — but the queries themselves are more varied than in most markets. The same need is searched in three languages, in two spellings of Azerbaijani, sometimes in Latin transliteration of Russian, and increasingly by voice or through AI assistants. A business that optimises for only one version of its main query misses much of its audience.
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In short
In short
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Google had a 97.4% share of search in Azerbaijan in August 2026 (StatCounter); optimise for Google first.
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People search in Azerbaijani, Russian and English; the mix depends on the product, the audience and the city.
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Many Azerbaijani queries are typed without special letters: "sayt hazirlanmasi" alongside "sayt hazırlanması".
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Local intent is strong: queries often include "Bakı", "Baku", a district or "near me".
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Maps, Instagram and AI assistants are part of how people search, not separate from it.
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Guide
Three languages, one market
- Azerbaijani is the state language and the language of most mass-market searches: household services, retail, local businesses, government services.
- Russian remains common in business, among urban audiences and for certain categories — B2B services, technology, real estate, education. Many people search in Russian even when they speak Azerbaijani fluently, because they are used to Russian-language content in that topic.
- English is used by international companies, expats, tourists, students, IT specialists and for technical terms — "web development", "CRM", "SEO" are often searched in English even within Azerbaijani or Russian queries.
The same person may use different languages for different topics. Keyword research should look at all three and at mixed queries such as "CRM sistemi Bakı".
Azerbaijani spelling and special letters
Azerbaijani uses the Latin alphabet with the letters ə, ç, ş, ğ, ı, ö, ü. On phones and computers without an Azerbaijani keyboard layout, or simply for speed, people often replace them: "e" for "ə", "c" for "ç", "s" for "ş", "i" for "ı", "o" for "ö", "u" for "ü", "g" for "ğ". Sometimes they use other substitutions, such as "sh" for "ş" or "ch" for "ç".
Google understands many of these variants and often shows similar results, but not always. Practical consequences:
- Research both spellings of your main queries and check which pages rank for each.
- Write your content in correct Azerbaijani — this is what users and search engines expect — and let search engines connect the variants.
- Make your own site search tolerant of both spellings, or users will get empty results.
More in Azerbaijani-language SEO.
Russian-language queries
Russian queries in Azerbaijan often include the city ("в Баку") and compete with results from Russia and other countries. Local signals — a Baku address, an Azerbaijani phone number, prices in manats, a .az domain or a clear Azerbaijan section — help Google show a local business to local searchers. See Russian-language SEO in Azerbaijan.
Local intent
A large share of commercial queries have local intent: "dentist Baku", "kondisioner təmiri Nərimanov", "доставка цветов Баку". For these, Google often shows a map pack with business profiles above the regular results. A complete Google Business Profile with correct categories, address, hours, photos and reviews is essential. See local SEO in Baku.
Devices
StatCounter recorded 51.5% of web traffic from mobile devices in Azerbaijan in August 2026. Consumer searches, especially local ones, happen mostly on phones; B2B research often happens on desktop at work. Pages must work well on both.
Beyond the search box
- Instagram works as a search engine for many consumer categories: people search for brands, products and services by name or hashtag.
- Classifieds portals — tap.az, turbo.az, bina.az, boss.az — are the starting point for many searches for goods, cars, property and jobs.
- Maps are where local searches often end.
- AI assistants increasingly answer questions like "which company in Baku can build an online store". They draw on websites, reviews and third-party sources; see AI search visibility.
What to do with this
- List your main services or products and write down how a customer would search for each — in Azerbaijani (both spellings), Russian and English.
- Check search volumes and current results for each variant.
- Decide which languages your website needs, and create a complete page per language for each important query group. See Azerbaijani, Russian and English website.
- Set up Google Business Profile and keep it complete.
- Track which queries bring visitors in Search Console, and adjust.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Should we write our Azerbaijani content without special letters to match queries?
No. Write correct Azerbaijani. Search engines connect spelling variants in most cases, and content without proper letters looks careless to readers.
Is English worth it if our customers are local?
Only if some customers search in English — international companies, expats, tourists or IT buyers. Otherwise, Azerbaijani and Russian come first.
How do we find out which language our customers use?
Look at the language of the messages and calls you receive, your analytics (browser language and search queries) and keyword research tools. Customers' own words are the best guide.